Batman has been around longer than almost any modern-day superhero other than Superman. Batman made his first appearance in 1939 in Detective Comics #27 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane. While early appearances just had Batman fighting organized crime, soon his world opened up to include a sidekick and some of the best villains in comic book history.
Through the years, Batman reinvented himself over and over again. From the original mafia fighting vigilante, he morphed into an overly comic superhero full of jokes before transforming again into the serious Caped Crusader that influenced the future of Batman. Along the way, some of the best Batman comics became some of the best stories in DC Comics history.
Updated on April 21st, 2022, by Shawn S. Lealos: When Matt Reeves brought the Caped Crusader back in the movie The Batman, he took inspiration from some of the best Batman stories in comics. Among these Batman story arcs, Reeves took a little from stories like Year One and The Long Halloween and then morphed it into a highly original story.
If Reeves gets to make more Batman movies, there is a lot more from the comics to pull from. The best Batman comics are often detective stories with a sense of family, whether it is batman and his Bat-Family or the Caped Crusader's dynamic with his home of Gotham City. Since he has been around for over 80 years, there are plenty of Batman stories to seek out to read some of the best arcs in comic book history.
Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth
Grant Morrison and artist Dave McKean teamed up for the intense and dynamic Arkham Asylum: A Serious House On Serious Earth. This Batman story is not a superhero tale, but more of a horror story with the Caped Crusader sent into Arkham Asylum after the inmates took control.
This is also what the Arkham Asylum videogames were based on. Each book in the series goes into the minds of the inmates while also breaking down the history of the institute itself. It is short but is one of the best batman story arcs that shows how Batman's villains are reflections of the hero himself.
Death of the Family
When Joker showed up in the New 52, DC chose to pull up memories of one of the most iconic Batman stories of all time. With a title that reminds people of Jason Todd's death, Death of the Family puts Batman and his allies in the Bat-Family in the Clown Prince of Crime's crosshairs.
What makes this one of the best Batman stories of all time is that Joker had a perfect reason for his attack. He felt Batman was at his best when he was alone, so he set out to destroy Bruce's relationship with those closest to him. With Nightwing, Red Robin, Batgirl, and even Jason Todd involved, it brought the entire family together.
Son of the Demon
In 1987, Mike W. Barr and Jerry Bingham created the graphic novel Batman: Son of the Demon. Interestingly, the story was never part of the overall Batman story continuity until 19 years later when Grant Morrison connected his Batman story arc to it in 2006 with the introduction of Damien Wayne.
In Son of the Demon, Batman falls in love with Talia 'al Ghul, and she ends up pregnant with his child. Even with the importance of the Batman story, it was also a great tale, with Batman working with Ra's al Ghul to find the man who killed Talia's mother. It ended with the moment where Talia lied about miscarrying the baby, which would stick until Morrison took over.
Batman & Dracula: Red Rain
Some of the best Batman comics were Elseworlds stories, with Batman working in Sherlock Holmes' time period and going back to medieval times. However, one of the best of them all was Batman & Dracula: Red Rain. While Dracula is a running character in Marvel Comics, in DC, he was part of the Elseworlds stories.
Batman and Dracula actually had a trilogy of stories together, with Red Rain as the first in the series. Doug Moenich and Kelley Jones created this story where vampires came into Gotham City, and Batman lured them into the Batcave, where he eliminated them before becoming a vampire himself.
The Black Mirror
Batman: The Black Mirror might be the most underrated Batman comic story arc ever released. In this story, Dick Grayson is serving as Batman during a time when most of the world thought Bruce Wayne was dead. It was a nice change, with a more optimistic Batman thanks to Dick's pure goodness.
This was the Batman story where Jim Gordon's son James returned, tore his family apart, and pulled Batman into the entire ordeal. It was also an extremely well-told story that brought all the characters together for a thrilling mystery.
A Lonely Place of Dying
When Batman adopted Dick Grayson, he turned him into the first Robin. He took in a rebellious Jason Todd and also turned him into Robin. However, it was Tim Drake who used his brilliance to learn that Bruce Wayne was Batman and he sought out the Caped Crusader to convince him that he needed a Robin - and one who took the role by choice.
This happened in the Batman story, A Lonely Place of Dying. Batman was still hurt by Jason's death and his relationship with Dick was strained. However, it was Tim showing up that finally helped Batman start to heal and led to what eventually morphed into the Bat-Family in DC Comics.
Tower Of Babel
Technically this is a Justice League story but it does focus heavily on Batman and his need to always be prepared. Someone is taking out the Justice League one by one using carefully planned methods and exposing their weaknesses.
It turns out that someone is using and modifying Batman's own contingencies for stopping the Justice League should they go rogue. It's a beloved story that shows that powers do not make someone completely indestructible and how dangerous Batman's mind can be.
Three Jokers
Despite the divided response to Three Jokers from the fans, it still was a massive event for the comics. This was a DC Black Label story by Geoff Johns, Jason Fabok & Brad Anderson that presented the idea that Joker was not one person, but was three different villains.
This explains why he changed over the years in Batman comics. These Jokers were the criminal, (which was the original version), the clown, (which was the one who killed Jason Todd), and the comedian, (which was the one from The Killing Joke).
No Man's Land
After Gotham suffers a massive earthquake, the city is evacuated and fittingly labeled as a no man's land. Thus begins a war for the city between gangs, the police, and the Bat-Family. No Man's Land was the follow-up to Cataclysm, another great story but No Man's Land dials everything up to the max.
No Man's Land can be credited as the story that introduces Cassandra Cain as Batgirl. With a multitude of villains and heroes battling, it's quite the intense experience akin to John Carpenter's Escape From New York.
Under The Hood
Under The Hood brought one of Batman's most significant regrets and brought it back to life as an almost unstoppable enemy. This story, by Judd Winick, Doug Mahnke, Eric Battle & Shane Davis, brought Jason Todd back to life.
Jason came back and donned a red hood, which was a callback to Batman's dealings with Joker in the early days. He was revived and depowered thanks to the Lazurus Pit and had an intense hatred for Batman, blaming his former mentor for his death.
The Court Of Owls
While almost all of DC rebooted with the New 52, Batman didn't change hardly at all, with Scott Snyder taking over as the creative lead. Court of Owls was the first major storyline for Batman after the New 52 from creators Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.
The Court of Owls had controlled everything in Gotham City since colonial times, wealthy men using kidnapped circus performers to work as their muscle. When Batman learned about them, he faced a group more powerful than any in his history.
Hush
Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee was a true mystery story and a great one for anyone who loves Batman as more of a detective than a superhero. The story has someone trying to sabotage Batman's life and ruin it from afar by pulling strings.
Several members of the Batman rogues' gallery are showcased and it even has Batman dealing with Superman at times. In the end, the mystery revealed that the villain was someone close to Bruce Wayne, someone who held a longtime grudge. This was also where Batman and Catwoman's relationship took a major turn.
The Killing Joke
While Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's The Killing Joke remains one of the most controversial stories because of the way it treated Barbara Gordon, the comic, nevertheless, received much praise from the fans due to the writers' focus on the Joker.
As fans remember, The Killing Joke sees the feud between Joker, Commissioner Gordon, and Batman culminates as the clown tortures and abuses Barbara Gordon in an attempt to break the Commissioner. However, this was not the only focus of the story as it also showed how Joe Kerr also became the Joker too. With many fans considering it the greatest Joker story ever told, The Killing Joke went on to win an Eisner Award for Best Writing.
Year One
Released in 1987 by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, Batman: Year One does exactly what the title describes; billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne returns home after a long absence to take over his parent's company.
However, he also returns with a new secret, as he has become Batman. In this series, Batman is still learning his place in Gotham City and meets an ally in a young Jim Gordon, who is also earning his spot in Gotham with a family at home.
A Death In The Family
Batman: A Death in the Family is a controversial Batman storyline from Batman #426-429 by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo. The controversy comes because DC allowed fans to vote in and determine whether Robin would live or die at the end of the story.
Jason Todd's mother returned, and she betrayed her son by selling him out to Joker. However, Jason proves in the end that he is a true hero as he tries to save his mother. Sadly, he failed because fans voted that Joker should kill Robin in the end.
Zero Year
The New 52 era of DC was a mixed bag for most fans, some stories were way better than others. One of them was a new retelling of Batman's first days as a vigilante in Gotham known as Zero Year. Zero Year keeps a more grounded approach to the Caped Crusader while taking place in a more modern era.
This portrayal made for a unique Batsuit harking back to Batman's first appearance, the reincarnation of villains such as Doctor Death for a more terror-inducing threat, and so much more to enjoy. This along with the Court Of Owls storyline made for easily the best Batman material of the New 52.
Knightfall
Knightfall was a massive Batman comic book storyline that saw Gotham City brought to its knees. It all played out from April 1993 until August 1994, with a year-and-a-half of stories playing out between all the Batman comics.
Bane is a new supervillain in Gotham City, and he sends out all Batman's enemies to attack him one by one. When Batman was finally wearing down, Bane attacked and broke Batman's back. Jean-Paul Valley replaced Bruce as Batman and became an unstable and vicious replacement until Batman finally returned.
The Long Halloween
The Long Halloween might be the best Batman story that takes place in the regular continuity of Batman comics. Created by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, this occurs early in Batman's crimefighting career and focuses on a killer named Holiday, who kills individuals on specific holidays.
The story then brings in most of Batman's iconic villains to make the case even tougher to crack. This is what Matt Reeves' The Batman is heavily inspired by.
Dark Victory
Those that enjoyed The Long Halloween will enjoy Dark Victory from the same writer and artist. Dark Victory is essentially a sequel that retells the story of how Batman met Dick Grayson and his transformation into the first Robin.
Fitting within The Long Halloween's style, it is a much darker and grittier detective thriller story than anything shown prior at that time. There are several returning characters from The Long Halloween as well as some references to create some continuity.
The Dark Knight Returns
In 1986, Frank Miller created the best Batman story of all time with The Dark Knight Returns. This takes place in the future when Bruce Wayne has retired as Batman, quitting after Jason Todd's death.
However, 10 years later, Bruce realizes crime in Gotham City has grown to an uncontrollable level, so he comes out of retirement. The problem is that the Gotham P.D. and U.S. Government won't allow it and eventually sends Superman to stop Batman once and for all.